In COVID times we hear much from our Chief Medical Officer. Over 90 years ago the THE OPEN ROAD was given as a universal panacea to our health. Today, as geocachers, it still rings true!
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King Island News (Currie, King Island : 1912 - 1954), Wednesday 6 July 1927, page 2
THE OPEN ROAD.
By a Medical Officer of Health.
At this season of the year the man in search of health might well have his foot-steps turned to the open road, that great highway of health from which all who traverse it receive bene-fits no natural or medicinal tonic confers as freely and plentifully, the air is sweet and clean with that champagne nip in it which prompts deep respirations and strengthens the force and vigor of the heart.
Out-of-doors calls to everyone. See to it that it does not call in vain. This not unnatural sluggishness which winter has brought must be combated. Energy must replace lethargy so far as muscular effort is con-cerned. The body must be built up. Food alone is useless. Its plentiful use will only tend to the superfluous storage of adipose tissue, which every-one should resolutely combat, and to the development of one or more of the various unpleasant consequences which are associated with digestive disturbances, of which a growing tendency to constipation is one of the most common and the most destructive to health. Good food is, of course, essential, but the use of food demands that we shall receive from it the fullest amount of health which it can give. This can only be done when exercise is combined with it.
For the finest form of exercise the open road should never be neglected. It is free to all, and there are none who use it who will not benefit by a vast increase of mental and physical health. The road may be cheerless or dull or may pass through the most beautiful and sublime scenery, but used in a proper manner and spirit, whether the way loads through the dreariest and drabbest of slums, or the wretched monotony of the black country, health will be there. The air of heaven is always pure. Chemists have analysed it under varying conditions of scene and place, with the universal result that its composition, as far as life-giving oxygen goes, rarely varies to any marked extent. The great motive of exercise is to fill the lungs with fresh air to purify the blood, and thus to renevate and bring health to every organ and tissue of the body.
There are many ways of using the open road, the private motor-car or public bus, the ubiquitous cycle, and last, but by far the most important, Shanks' mare. Motoring has many advantages. When the car is an open one the rapid passage through the air, the quick changes of scenery, the frequent minor excitements have all a wondrously exhilarating effect, but this is much more transient than the exercise the pedal cycle entails. Next to walking, it is perhaps the best way of using the open road, having the additional advantage that it confers a greater change of scene with ease in reaching spots which appeal to the mind and eye. Cycling has disadvantages for those whose health is below par. When winds are adverse and hilly country abounds it is apt to impose a strain upon the heart which may have a prejudicial or even a disastrous effect.
Used in moderation and in suitable circumstances, nothing can be said against the use of the cycle for those sound in heart and lung, but when this is said, it cannot be compared to walking as a health tonic, and, therefore, my prescription is to urge that a much more liberal use of that simple mode of progression be resorted to. Cycling imposes a very considera-able strain upon the muscles of the legs, but walking properly performed traditionally calls every muscle into action without the slightest undue strain — while exercising major muscular fibre, waste products are produced, but these are not allowed to accumulate, for by the contraction of others they are driven out, to be caught up by the blood in its passage to the heart and ultimately to be discharged from the body by the skin, lungs and kidneys.
The contractions necessitate a larger and purer supply of blood being sent to them, and to do this the heart beats increase in strength, the muscular structure of the heart at the same time increasing in tone and vigor. The voluntary muscles, those which we can call at will into action, not only benefit, but the great system of involuntary muscles, of which the heart is the most familiar example, share the benefit to a full extent. The functions of the stomach and intestines are actively carried on by involuntary muscles found in their walls, upon the proper action of which good digestion and proper action of the bowels depend.
Walking acts as a tonic to them, with the result that appetite is increased, digestion improved, and regular action of the bowels stimulated. The food, eaten more readily, gives up its nutritive qualities of the blood and the waste matters are rapidly and more thoroughly expelled. Breathing is quickened by walking. The air in the lungs and especially the considerable amount of air which always remains in them becomes more and more pure. The result is more quickly effected when the body is borne erect to allow easy and free inspiration and expiration. It has been urged by some that forced inspirations should be performed at times when walking.
In other words that the fullest possible inspiration of air should be made, retained for a certain number of stops, and then expired as rapidly and fully as possible. Nothing, however, is to be gained by such a plan; on the contrary, regular, steady breathing is to be aimed at without imposing the sudden strain upon the lungs and heart which long continuance of deep breathing might produce. To stroll leisurely along may be a very pleasant and harmless method of walking, but when writing of walking as a health tonic, much more active exercise is inferred. From three to four miles a day of brisk, active walking should be aimed at. Many more may be done, but for health this should prove amply sufficient for the ordinary adult.
The convalescent, or those whose natural vigor is impaired will require a strictly regulated amount of walking exercise, as the danger of overdoing it has always to be guarded against. Slow and sure must ever be their motto, and if rigidly obeyed they will quickly find that as strength returns the length of their pilgrimages on the open road will be increased. Many a man in his keenness for business forgets that health comes first, and in his eagerness to get down to it, takes the quickest means of getting there, even although it may be well within a reasonable walking distance. Such an opportunity should never be disregarded.
The weather may be unpropitious, uncongenial, but the average man, suitably clad and strongly shod, can well displace rain, snow or wind. It is also true that all three of those have their health bringing qualities, which are of no small importance. Was there over a man who had been buffeted by the wind or had struggled home facing a pelting rain or rapidly whirling snowflakes who entered his house morose or glum? Physically tired he might be, but the exer-cise, the fresh air, the beating of the rain upon his face, will have thoroughly renovated the air in his lungs, purified his blood, and caused his cheeks and eyes to glow and sparkle with health, which in its turn keeps gloomy thoughts and irritable nerves at bay.
Source: TROVE